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An anonymous reader writes "At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled two new Android devices: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, running Android 3.0 (codenamed Honeycomb), and the Samsung Galaxy S II, running Android 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread). The two have been leaked over and over for days, but now we finally have the official details."

More competition in this market means more choices for consumers. I hope the new Galaxy & its data plans are priced a bit better in the US than its predecessor's. The data plans for it that Verizon offers certainly make it less desirable.

Yeah, no USB and no HDMI drastically reduces the devices usefulness. With those a tablet could be a truly mobile computer. That leaves a big opening for the iPad 2, though I'd be surprised if Apple added both of those given how they have not yet offered the ability to connect to external storage on any of their iDevices. I don't see much that this Tab 10.1 offers better than before besides the speakers and the dual core processor. It's not that those are nothing, just not what it could have been.

The original Galaxy Tab had a standard (altough not so standard because no one else use it yet) dock connector. I am sure you can get a dock->HDMI cable. Unlike the iPad, it is NOT a proprietary connector. I hope they didn't change that for the Galaxy Tab 2.

The original Galaxy Tab had a standard (altough not so standard because no one else use it yet) dock connector. I am sure you can get a dock->HDMI cable. Unlike the iPad, it is NOT a proprietary connector. I hope they didn't change that for the Galaxy Tab 2.

"DisplayPort signal can be converted to HDMI format using active converter circuitry in the dock or external signal conversion adapter powered by 3.3 V DisplayPort power.

So in other words in order to get HDMI you have to carry around a bulky dock and/or extra device. PDMI does have USB, so hopefully it allows use of both of those at the same time. Either way, it's much more clunky than having them built in. Being able to hook the tablet up to a monitor and keyboard and external storage would make it much more useful. In that case it wouldn't matter that those things are large and unportable, the use case would be having a monitor and

This is a docking, charing, and connection port which includes support for USB3 and DisplayPort (which is easily converted to HDMI). It is like the non-proprietary equivalent of Apple's dock connnector.

Like you I am sad that this thing doesn't just give us a USB port, but a PDMI port will be a very good thing once they catch on and become widely supported, and if a lot of these Android tablets have PDMI ports then they will catch on soon.

The worst thing that could happen would be for each Android manufacturer to create their own proprietary and incompatible docking port. And it must have been tempting because then they get to make extra money charging crazy amounts for accessories.

Seriously, why would I want a PDMI or whatever other type of port? I'm seriously getting sick of having to buy adapters for every device just for the sake of simple communication.I currently have to have a breakout connector for my HTC Fuze (yes, I know, outdated - but I'm holding out for dual core goodness) and am just as miffed at it for not having a dedicated 3.5 audio jack. I mean really, what's the point? Having to carry another breakout cable with me to gain basic functionality is something I will not consider again in a portable device.

Seriously, why would I want a PDMI or whatever other type of port? I'm seriously getting sick of having to buy adapters for every device just for the sake of simple communication.

Mainly most of us don't want to be limited to 'basic' charging and data only.

Todays phones not only need to charge and have data connectivity, but can pump sound and video out, as well as remote control connections for media players as well as have higher capacity batteries.

What you are seemingly asking for is a phone with a bunch of huge jacks all around it.Most of us don't want a USB jack for power/data, a 1/8" headphone jack for audio, a standard video connector which is limited to either composite (RCA) for the low end, or VGA (db15h) for higher end.The next smallest you will find for video is HDMI, which then raises the temptation for the manufacturer to add in DRM since it's supported out-of-the-protocol-box with that one.Not to mention high amperage charging with the current line of power hungry devices and their matching batteries.

The genius of Apple's connector is that all of that and more is provided in one tiny *standard* connector. It's only downside is being proprietary and thus needs licensing to make/do anything with.

(Note that it only seems non-standard because Apple was the first to have to mass produce such a thing. That in and of itself is not bad. If they would have not required any licensing and allowed anyone to duplicate it's design, things would be about as perfect as they can get. Only their choice in not opening the connector design up is why there is any problem at all.)

The clear answer to that problem is another type of jack, equally small and genius as Apple's, but an open standard free for all to use.That answer is PDMI.

One problem with using USB for power is that normal USB ports can only supply 500mA. Most USB chargers will supply 1000mA and the phone detects them by seeing if the USB data lines are active or not.

Therefore if you plug the phone into a real USB port it only gets half as much power and takes a lot longer to charge. In fact on many phones if you are actively using it with wifi turned on it might only be enough to maintain current battery levels and won't charge at all. My old HTC Hero was like that, and my

A dock is good to have at home and/or in the office, but how many bring theirs docks with them when traveling light?

My 4-port USB hub, CyberPower model CP-H420P, fits in the palm of my hand, and I've seen smaller hubs at work (Google usb travel hub). I see no reason why there can't be a tiny device with an HDMI port and three USB ports that is just as small as this USB hub. It's probably far less bulk than the HDMI cable and USB devices (other than perhaps a flash drive) that you'll have to carry with it anyway.

This is a docking, charing, and connection port which includes support for USB3 and DisplayPort (which is easily converted to HDMI). It is like the non-proprietary equivalent of Apple's dock connnector.

Take your "facts" elsewhere mister, this is Slashdot!Galaxy Tab cannot connect to projectors simply because I cannot see a VGA port in any pictures of the device I find online in 10 seconds of searching. iPads suffer the same fate, regardless of the dock/VGA adaptors in plain sight at aisle ends in Target and Walmart. All of these devices are doomed too, because I cannot afford them, and I don't want anything I can't afford because that's how I cope with life. They're stupid toys, but I take posting on S

Not likely. No usb, bleeding edge connector (=not universal), no GPS, no removable storage at all. This is a color Kindle with lousy battery life that can play video. This model isn't equipped for CDMA/LTE networks, but even if it was, Verizon would still rape you with monthly fees.

If Samsung wants the Galaxy Tab to take off, it needs to slash the price by at least a couple of hundred dollars. The first-generation tab sells for [amazon.com] $600, even though its capabilities are not so much beyond smartphones of two years ago, and you're getting Android instead of a full-featured OS.

The trend for electronics to decrease in price does not seem to have started yet for mobile. In a sense, we're still like those saps from the early 1980s who paid thousands (in 1980s dollars!) for desktops that even then were clunky.

Fully agree. At 7" it needs to undercut the iPad, so maybe $299 for a WiFi only and maybe $399 for a 3G or 4G capable version. For the 10" model they need to look at $499 for the WiFi only version, and maybe $599 for the 3G/4G model--at that's at the high end IMO. And of course as generations progress those prices need to come down by $50-100 a year if they're going to continue with the 6 month product cycles. "Off brand" tablets like the Archos will need to be even cheaper, which they've already demonstrat

True. I mean, Apple's entry level tower system has gone from $2300 back in '93 down to... um... $2300 now. Ah-ha! The current system is faster and has more RAM! Can't believe they were charging $2300 for only 33Mhz with 32MB of RAM back then. What were they thinking?!!!

i meant to add that it's in the telcos' interests for mobile phone prices to stay high. It makes it much easier for them to trap people into long-term contracts. if "current" phone prices were only $100 or $200 rather than $600-$900, there's be a lot more people who just bought their phones outright and shopped around for the best voice&data deal.

in short: phone prices are artificially high just to make the bundled phone+overpriced plans seem a mu

That's because the end-user isn't really the manufacturer's customer. The telcos are. Almost all mobile phones are sold by Telcos (or their agents) in a bundle with a voice and/or data plan.

That applies to a much lesser extent (or not at all) outside the US.

The trend for electronics to decrease in price does not seem to have started yet for mobile

is just wrong. I can buy a phone with a big screen and MP3 player for less than £10, or one with a camera for £25. A cheap touch-screen phone is about £70 (Nokia 5230), or an Android one for £125. How is this not the normal electronics price decrease? The latest smartphone costs £300-600, but then the latest top-of-the-range fancy laptop costs two to three times as much as a normal laptop. All electronics are l

If the Tabs hadn't been selling, they would have dropped the prices more. They are probably selling as well as they want to to clear inventory. Once there is competition and once they have manufacturered a larger batch, they'll drop the prices further.

The UI changes to the homescreen would be bad on a screen smaller than 7". Multiple windows, side menus, physical buttons replaced by software buttons, size of buttons relative to the screen, this sort of thing. Essentially with the bigger screen, screen space can be taken up by secondary needs (launcher, menus, options, etc), whereas on the small screen, 95% of the screen is dedicated to the user's immediate content, and things are relatively big to improve the user experience. In Honeycomb, UI elements are smaller, and screen area can be dedicated to not just a primary task, but useful information and quick access to facets of the program formerly hidden behind the menu button.

I have very mixed opinions about the connector. If it is (as some suggest) PDMI, an industry standard for connectors / docks then I understand the move. It means lots of choice of comparatively cheap cables, docks etc. to choose from. Place the PDMI compliant tablet into the dock and you get keyboard, HDD, charging etc. all from a single connector. I still think a device should still offer micro usb port in addition for simple charge / copy file actions.

It does support Bluetooth keyboards, all tablets with Honeycomb will (the Galaxy S also supports them through some Samsung customizations). HDMI and USB is provided through the dock connector and the $50 multimedia dock.

This thing does have a docking connector of some sort. Assuming that they aren't total assholes, it should be a PDMI connector, which is amply capable(USB2OTG, USB3 slave and host, displayport, some charging lines) and a standard, albeit not yet widely deployed.

If it is some samsung proprietary port, then that is nearly useless. It'll have all the openness of Apple's pet connector, with far less ubiquity. Hooray!

I can see why you want a USB port for a table; transfer photos from cameras, share files via a flash drive, and a keyboard. I'm sure a 80% of the tablet market could find a use for USB port or USB adapter (I'm not a fan of the iPad adapter but it does work.) The added expense of the USB port would increase sales. The increase in sales would offset the increased cost of the tablet and increase profits.
I don't think a significant majority needs a HDMI port at this time. The number one feature of a table

A tablet with video output would be very convenient for presentations, though. Quite a lot of people do slide presentations as part of their work - researchers, university teachers, salespeople and public relations-people and many others. This would mean one less reason to bring a notebook in addition to - or instead of - your tablet.

For presentations the port absolutely has to have a VGA output or be easily converted to it. Most projectors in public venues have only VGA input - I've yet to see a digital input offered anywhere so far - and without it, a tablet would be useless for this.

Based on my experience with my Galaxy S - I'm not going to be buying a Samsung phone again real soon.

I just got 2.2 and the manner to upgrade was pretty lame. (Requires a PC and software that only runs on 32 bit windows) I don't expect to ever get 2.3 on it. When I bought it 2.2 was "just around the corner", which turned out to be around a year.

The GPS is busted, Samsung has never, to my knowledge, addressed the issue and I've just come to accept that my phone doesn't have GPS. I've seen some fixes that involve opening up the phone and messing with some parts, but I'm not interested.

The screen is gorgeous, a lot of things work well, but for what I payed ($500) I expect all of it to work well and for decent support.

According to this [xda-developers.com] all the other Australian carriers already have it. Some European phones have an official version 2.2.1 upgrade now, which is a huge performance improvement. You can flash custom ROMs with this as a base. Also Cyanogenmod 7 for SGS, based on Gingerbread, is in alpha testing.

I couldn't disagree more. Well I agree on some parts. Keis is a retarded piece of crap, but it runs just fine on every version of windows i've tried including 64bit variants. By fine I mean as much as iTunes runs fine. After all that is exactly what they were going for. Update to Froyo was painless and I wated longer on my carrier then on Samsung.

As for the GPS, mine obtains quality locks within 10-20 sec, and for kicks we drove through the city once with my phone, the Navigon app and my Garmin GPS. The phone did great, the Garmin kept dropping out and thinking w were on the wrong street.

Sucks that you had a bad experience, but as long as Samsung release the promised 2.3 update for my phone, this will be the first in a many long line of Samsung devices I throw my money towards. - Posted from Galaxy S

I've seen about as many people say the supposed GPS issue is a software problem (See AC's reply below min) as a hardware problem. I wonder how many of the problems are actually legit compared to people seeing their GPS unit which spend every day connected vs the phone they just opened and tried GPS for the first time. The initial GPS fix took close to 3 minutes, but then that was expected and IMO still quite fast for a device with no historical or A-GPS data available at the time. The GPS Status app shows t

You can actually get 2.3 now if you install a custom ROM based on the Nexus S, which is basically the same phone.

I too have had excellent results with the GPS. My old Hero could never lock on if it was moving too much (e.g. on a train or in a car) but the Galaxy S has no problems. Google maps has some issues with thinking you are on a different street, but iGo and Navigon work perfectly so I assume it is a problem with that specific app.

I like being able to watch 720p video on the TV in my hotel room via th

Actually it very much matters who's fault it is. I could have a HTC, a Motorola, I could have anything, and it won't make a difference if my carrier doesn't apply it's shitty customisations and then push the update down the line. Case in point Samsung was VERY quick to push through Froyo 2.2.1, I still don't have it available here and that has zero to do with Samsung.

Now let's not use the term "other platforms" as if this is a Samsung or an Andriod problem. The reality here is that iOS is the ONLY mobil

I still feel terrible about recommending a Samsung Fascinate to a friend last year, thinking a Froyo update was just around the corner. So far they've fixed none of its bugs, and that Froyo update that I thought she's get in September might be coming out this month.

I don't know if I will support a company who takes a fire-and-forget approach with their devices. I mean, other phone makers do it too, but they're the masters of device apathy.

I hope you learn your lesson: never, ever recommends hardware that you did not use. Especially to someone of the opposite sex.

I might recommend a Hitachi Wonderwand, but no way in hell am I using one. Given my biology, I'm not even sure how I would... (And no, I don't need a link to a Rule 34 explanation of how a guy would use one.)

> it uses Samsung's proprietary charging cable and
> doesn't have USB or HDMI ports
Who's brilliant idea was this? Android is about being open, and they leave out these bits? Besides that, didn't they heard that in the EU we've a standardized charger plug?

Dear God those are shitty photos. This long in business and Engadget doesn't know how to use a flash?

But you are right in that anyone can use a PDMI connector. Maybe by pushing it on this device, we get the chicken/egg question answered? And won't the micro-USB have to stick around, at least on the phone, given the EU's choice of that as a standard plug?

It may be like the NookColor which uses a modified microUSB plug for power. You can charge the NC slowly (about 8 hours from dead to full) from a standard USB port and cable at 500mA (all the USB standard allows) OR you can charge the NC fast (in 2 hours) with a proprietary cable that plugs into the microUSB port and draws 1.9A from a wall-wart.

I WILL NOT buy another Samsung phone/tablet. I bought 3 Captivates when they came on on the big promises that a Froyo update was coming soon. They are now announcing the Captivate's successor and still no Froyo on the 3 I purchased.

We are getting ready to make a purchase of around 50 tablets for the company I work for. I'm not making an investment in Samsung again. If it was my personal phone I'd root the thing and be done with it, but I'm not operating the companies devices off of a hack because Samsun

As a Galaxy S (Sprint) owner, I am outraged at the lack of upgrade to Android 2.2 that was promised 6 or 7 months ago. Yup, I got the point back then and it is reinforced now. Sprint AND Samsung have no loyalty to existing customers. They want to churn us to the Galaxy S2, which has even less battery time because it is so "slim". I'll take triple the thickness if it gives me double the battery time. Period.

At least freaking Apple tries to do upgrades. Sure, original iPhones can't be upgraded, but this sure beats what Samsung and Sprint have colluded to do regarding using the full hardware capacity of the phone that they promised to upgrade for me.

I use Sprint because they have the best coverage in my area, 4G and all. I'll suffer with Verizon after being a 14 year loyal customer to Sprint.

If you purchased an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch in the last 2 years (new, retail), you can still get the current OS. It may not work as well on "mature" hardware (such as the iPhone 3G and 2nd Gen iPod Touch), but you can install it.

Then what is the point? i have a 3g ipod touch (8gb, so 2g hardware), and yes i run iOS 4.0, what did that get me over 3.x? a 3d-ish effect on the pinned appes bar at the bottom of the screen, conversation threading in the mail app (which is still miles behind the various gmail apps on other platforms) and the ability to make "folders" on my homescreen with multiple apps in them.. in return i get reduced performance when doing most things (ipod app loads slower then before etc..)

Sure, the update works on my ipod, but to me it provides 0 value, if someone magically reverted my ipod back to 3.x, i wouldnt bother with the 4.x update again

2010 was no doubt the year of the smartphone, but it feels like the market is bordering on saturation. There are just soooo many devices out there. Think about how many phones HTC alone released to market.

2011 is looking to be the year of the Tablet, we already knew about the 10" Galaxy Tab for a while, and Samsung also have a slider model (Wintel). Asus have 4 (Slider & Transformer 10", 12" Wintel & 7"), HTC are rumored to have 3 (one not using Honeycomb) in the pipeline, plus the Motorola Xoo

I went from the HTC Dream (G1) to the Motorola Droid2 for the same reason as you: the keyboard. (I didn't go T-Mo G2 as I disliked the hinge) I've found myself wholly unable to use software keyboards. I thought the iPad was neat, but like the iPhone, decided it just wasn't for me. Not only did it have a horrible on-screen keyboard, but it was heavy to boot. Enter the Galaxy Tab...

Last week, I played with the Galaxy Tab for the first time and I must say: 7 inches is perfect for us hardware-keyboard holdouts.

I love Swype on my phone, but was surprised to find that it is almost totally useless on a tablet. You need to move your whole hand to hit every letter, and you are limited to one finger despite the fact that ten fingers fit on the home row.

I've tried Swype. I don't get it. I mean, I get how it works, I don't get why people like it. I want to type, I don't auto-completion or guessing. I don't want to switch context from typing to reading words from a list and then selecting them. It is slow and inefficient.

Plus, honestly, I think that Swype is particularly bad for me as a lefty. I don't think the tracking algorithm is righty-only, though it may be, I suspect that the greater issue is that in English, we read from left-right. Since a lefty's t

With all the good, you can't get anything onto it except via wireless or a dongle (connector cable to a PC), and you can't expand the memory (no microSD or SD slot, no usb). The connector has promise (USB, audio, control, display port), but it's a rare beast right now, so if PDMI fails, it's an instant dead end.

It also lacks a GPS chip, which means you're reliant on the cell network location for crappy mapping location services, or location via wi-fi. Hell, if I have wifi, I can just ask the guy at the table next to me where I am.

This might be interesting if it comes in at under $300. Otherwise it's going to be a pretty big yawn-fest.

If I was even 90% happy with my Galaxy S I would upgrade to the S II. And there would be another sale for Samsung.
I am not going to over dramatize to say I am grossly disappointed with the phone and I lose sleep, I dont.
But I have lost confidence that buying a Samsung Galaxy Ssuccessor is prudent.

The GPS problems, the update problems, the jitteriness just do not inspire confidence. I am cautious now. Thats spells bad news for me as a repeat customer for Samsung..
The one saving

Having read the comments, it seems to me that Samsung is facing a problem which plagues most of the other phone manufacturers: they're used to (and only want) to producing hardware. The modern smartphone has as much computing power as a desktop did 1 decade ago, but we're still using the old, hardware-specific firmware model. We should be moving to a similar model that PCs use - the manufacturer sells you the hardware (with an OS-preinstalled), but you can pick whichever one you want and install it. The responsibility for software updates falls entirely to the software company, except for drivers. We're moving in that direction with Android, but we're still a long way off.

There is no reason a manufacturer couldn't do that with Android. All they need do is provide suitable hardware drivers and test them with each OS update, much like on a desktop OS.

The reason they don't is because it would make their hardware just another generic Android phone. In much the same way that laptop manufactures bundle all sorts of crapware that duplicates functionality already in the OS (wifi managers being the worst example) they want to differentiate themselves and hook people on their UI.

Their Android OS upgrade policy is: you're not getting one, because it would compete with sales of future devices with the newer OS; if you want a newer OS, buy a newer device. Better still, I'll just never buy a Samsung product to begin with.

A report from the Wall Street Journal suggests Apple is about to become Samsung's biggest customer in a deal estimated to be worth US$7.8 billion. As part of its purchase, Apple will be securing LCD displays, NAND flash memory and mobile chipsets from the Korean manufacturer. Each of these components will be used to build Apple's popular iPad and iPhone.

Samsung could quit making consumer products tomorrow and do just fine.

You might try the archos 70its running 2.2 has hdmi out and apparently a full bluetooth stack and has usb if its the same as the 7 the usb can be host as well.

it does however lack gps or 3g but hopefully the gps functionality can be added in via a bluetooth gps unit. the 3g i don't particularly care to have since i can simply link with my android phone using barnacle.

with the archos7 you have to root it to use adhoc networks the 70 does it out of the box my mobile provider lets me buy 500mb internet access a month for 5 euro's with data speeds to 7.2mb on a 99 euro samsung europa that is more than adequate.

It seems to have PDMI, so DisplayPort (convertible to HDMI) and USB are to be expected. The article seems to be wrong on that regard.
The lack of decent, indestructible glass is disturbing. The (probable) lack of updates is worse.